General Hospital (1980–1989)
Major characters Storylines 1980 Separated from his wife Lesley, Dr. Rick Webber left Port Charles with no plans to return early in 1980. Monica reluctantly returned to her husband Alan, but their tentative truce came to an abrupt end when Alan got his hands on the elusive deposition from Rick's malpractice hearing. Alan was stunned to read the sordid details about Rick's affair with Monica! Alan, seething, covered his rage and began a quiet terrorization of Monica, throwing her into panic and confusion. His plotting took a further upsurge when it was discovered that Alan, Jr. needed emergency heart surgery. Rick returned to skillfully perform a lifesaving operation. The work progressed on the attic nursery, and Alan formulated his vengeful plan to collapse the roof on Rick and Monica on the day of the baby's christening! While Laura continued to work with Luke, Scotty was growing closer to the truth about the rape. Luke still loved Laura, but dated Jennifer Smith, Frank's naive daughter, in an effort to forget his feelings. Laura, for her part, suffered terrible twinges of jealousy whenever she saw Luke and Jennifer together. Luke and Jennifer became engaged. Diana Taylor, now aware that PJ was Steven Lars, tried to woo Jeff, but the handsome young doctor was already seriously smitten with nurse Annie Logan. The young lovers hoped to marry, but of course, Jeff was already married to Heather, who had been committed to an institution. However, Heather soon emerged from her delusional state, faked catatonia and escaped from Forest Hills Sanitarium! With fierce determination, she headed for the Hardy's where, looking through the window, she saw Anne in Jeff's arms! She returned to the sanitarium, but eventually was released, At the hospital, Nurse Jessie Brewer found her workday routine interrupted by increasingly regular visits from Dan Rooney, the new hospital administrator. Dan and Jessie devised an innovative "trial marriage" to see if they were indeed compatible. To the amused glances of their colleagues, he would spend his days with Jessie in her apartment and at the hospital -- but would sleep at home! Still hoping to insure her own inheritance by proving that Monica's baby belonged to Rick, Tracy brought a paternity suit against Monica. Her father, Edward, infuriated with his renegade daughter, drew up a new will -- disinheriting Tracy! Rick, desperate to claim his son, resolved to tell Alan the truth about his baby's parentage. Of course, Alan already knew this piece of highly volatile news! Lesley supported Rick in his actions, and Monica, terrified of losing her child, begged Lesley to stop Rick from going to Alan. Lesley steadfastly refused. With her heart breaking, Lesley went to the court house to file for a divorce so that Rick could eventually be free to marry Monica. Believing the truth about his son's paternity was about to come out anyway, Rick went straight to Alan and told him that he and Monica were lovers and that Alan, Jr. was his own son. Alan pretended shock and begged for time to make up his mind regarding what he would do. But Alan knew exactly what he wanted to do! Privately, he vowed that "Rick and Monica will die." The day of destiny arrived. Believing that Rick and Monica planned to make love, Alan followed them to their waterfront love nest, with gun in hand. As he walked up the steps, fate intervened in the form of a terrific explosion! The force of the blast (caused by an unforeseen gas line break) knocked Alan off the stairs. Deep in her soul, Laura Baldwin knew she loved Luke Spencer, but she could never admit that fact to anyone. In her desire to free herself from Luke, Laura wrote a letter of release to Luke -- which sounded very much like a love letter! On the day of Jennifer and Luke's wedding, Scotty found it, and, at last, learned the identity of Laura's rapist. Calling Laura a "tramp," Scotty rushed out in search of Luke, only hours before his wedding was to take place on Frank Smith's yacht. Luke demanded of Smith that the price for marrying Jennifer would be a contract giving him title to his businesses that were not involved in organized crime. The key to getting what he wanted was in Smith's little black book, which contained the names of the key players in the Port Charles mob. Moments before the wedding, Scotty leapt aboard the yacht, and hit Luke in the head with a mighty blow -- sending him overboard, dazed and disoriented, into the water below. Everyone thought Luke was dead, but unbeknownst to anyone, he surfaced on a nearby dock and found Laura standing there. Together they ran off! Luke and Laura set off on an incredible odyssey. Their mission: to decode Smith's black book and solve the mystery of the left-handed boy, whose existence Luke had learned about by overhearing one of Frank's private conversations. After a romantic night in Wyndhams Department store, they headed for the town of Fair Oaks, stopping along the way in the farm community of Beechers Corners. Hot on their trail was a hit man, Hutch, who by now had learned that a secret supply of gold bullion was hidden in the hand of the left-handed boy -- which was actually a statue. Luke and Laura were going to lead him to it! Hutch arrived in Beechers Corners, and turning on the homespun charm, fooled Luke and Laura into believing he was their friend. Before leaving for Fair Oaks, Hutch committed a crime (that would later come back to haunt him) when he killed Vic Gower and buried him in the Whitaker's cornfield. Fed up with Tracy, Edward devised a plan to test her true colors. Edward approached Tracy with his new will, which disinherited her. As he began to sign the document, Edward suddenly slumped over with a heart attack. Clutching his chest, Edward begged Tracy for his medicine. Tracy stood immobile, refusing to move as Edward slumped to the floor, apparently dead. Then, roaring with laughter, Edward jauntily sprang back to life, and signed the will. Tracy had failed the test miserably. Later, Edward relented, giving Tracy two million dollars, which could only be spent on Mitch's race for the governorship. Tracy used the money to lure the greedy Mitch away from his lover, Susan Moore. Forced to choose between his love for Susan and Tracy's money, Mitch opted for the bucks. Defeated and humiliated, Tracy joined her husband, Mitch, in Albany. Monica made a startling discovery when she observed that Alan, Jr. bore the same birthmark that Alan had! Tests proved that the baby was indeed Alan's. Armed with this news, Monica was now even more desperate to free herself from Alan and marry Rick! But Alan learned the secret from the hematologist assigned to the case, and kept the gratifying knowledge secret, waiting for an opportune moment to publicly humiliate Rick and Monica. Alan knew just the occasion -- a fund-raising party to be given on the day before Monica's divorce was to come through. Arranging for almost all of General Hospital to be present, Alan made the stunning announcement that Alan Junior was indeed his son. Reeling from the humiliating revelation, Rick rejected Monica. Monica bowed to the inevitable and moved back into the Quartermaine mansion. In search of the left-handed boy, Luke, Laura and Hutch moved on to Fair Oaks where they got jobs in a bar run by Miss Sally Armitage, who was actually a member of Frank Smith's hit squad. Sally was a man in disguise! Luke located a statue which appeared to be a boy -- a left-handed boy! He further realized that through the inscription on the statue, he could finally decode Frank Smith's black book. In a shootout at the statue, Hutch and Sally ended up shooting one another. Laura watched in horror as Luke fell to the ground --- from a bullet to the chest! A bullet-proof vest saved his life. With the black book decoded, Luke had the goods to put Frank Smith behind bars for years to come. Returning to Port Charles by police escort, Luke and Laura stopped at a drugstore outside of town where Luke seized the opportunity to buy a cigar, slip off the band, and slip it on Laura's finger. In a simple, yet poignant ceremony, they spoke their vows, reaffirming the commitment they had made the night before. Together at last -- well, at least for a few more hours. At Police Headquarters, Laura was not prepared by the onslaught of media who greeted the runaways. In a weak moment, she silently slipped the cigar band off her finger and declared, "I'm still Mrs. Scott Baldwin. Luke was rocked by Laura's stunning statement! Feeling betrayed and rejected, he refused to speak with the woman he loved. And Laura returned to her apartment to ask Scotty for a divorce -- only to discover he had left her! Torn apart by love and pride, Luke and Laura ran into each other occasionally, but displayed a facade of happiness which kept them from getting together. Just as Luke and Laura were finally settling down, a new arrival -- Alexandria Quartermaine-- was about to bring new conflict and adventure into their lives. 1981 By stealing a gun from the Webber house and faking hysteria, Heather convinced Lesley, Rick, and Dr. Nelson that she must return to Forest Hills. Only there could she safely carry out her plan to murder Diana Taylor! Once back at the sanitarium, Heather hid the gun in the body of her deeply disturbed friend Sarah's baby doll. Then when the moment was right, she slipped out of Forest Hills and headed straight for Port Charles with murder on her mind. Entering Diana's apartment with a set of stolen keys and drawn gun, Heather stood frozen at the sight of Diana and Jeff, who had been rejected by Anne, making love! Diana, hoping for a future with Jeff, finally revealed the secret that PJ was actually his son, Steven Lars. Jeff, bewildered and angry that Diana had kept the truth from him for so long, stormed out of the apartment. At wits end, Diana pleaded with him, from the open door, to stay. Anne, unseen by them, arrived in time to overhear the bitter exchange. Seeing Jeff, then Anne, leave the building, Heather entered for the kill! Within moments, Diana's body lay lifelessly on the kitchen floor. In the final step of her elaborate frame-up, Heather wrote Anne's name, in blood, next to Diana's body. Police Chief Burt Ramsey -mounted a clear-cut case against a frightened Anne Logan. Jeff took PJ and left town. With a tearful goodbye, Dr. Jeff Webber, his young son in his arms, departed Port Charles. Heather soon received a letter from Jeff asking for a divorce. But not because he wanted Anne! He had found someone else. Joe Kelly, now in love with Heather, refused to believe Ramsey's theory that there was a second gun involved in Diana's murder. The killer turned out to be Heather's mother -- Alice Grant, who admitted killing Diana to prevent her from murdering Heather! Afraid for her daughter's life, Alice killed Diana while trying to wrestle the gun away from her. Alan and Monica's marriage continued as volatile as ever in 1981. More than ever, she wanted to be with Rick Webber, who was now working (alongside his ex-wife Lesley) at the new Waterfront Clinic. - Rejected by Monica, Alan turned to sexy Susan Moore, and they began a tumultuous affair. In rapid time, Susan was pregnant with Alan's child! The arrival of the glamourous Alexandria Quartermaine was met by enthusiasm from her uncle, Edward, and wariness from Monica. Alexandria hired Luke to do some investigative work. His mission: to locate Alex's competitors, the Cassadines, who were thought to be living in Port Charles under assumed names. Luke entered his ransacked apartment and came face to face with a man who held him at gunpoint and demanded information about the Ice Princess. Luke was baffled by his questions which came from an Australian, Robert Scorpio, an international financier and well-known bon vivant. A friendship developed between the two adversaries. Learning from Scorpio that the Ice Princess was a statuette, Luke agreed to help the Quartermaines find it for a price! But Scorpio wanted it too, and he offered Luke $50,000 to find the statuette, which was actually the world's largest uncut diamond which Alex had painted black, mounted on a pedestal, and shipped from Rio De Janeiro to Port Charles. However, when she went to the docks to claim the crate, Alex was horrified to discover that it had been stolen! Eventually, it turned up, but vanished again when the lights went out during an auction. Luke and Laura made their peace, then shared a romantic evening at the Versailles Room, topped off by a celebration on the docks. Back at Laura's apartment, Luke astounded himself by asking Laura to marry him. "Yes, oh yes!" she answered ecstatically. Laura placed ad in Mexican papers so she could find Scotty and obtain a divorce. Luke only wanted to find the Ice Princess! Unknown to anyone else, Alexandria Quartermaine held a clandestine meeting with Tony Cassadine! Together, they forged a partnership, rekindled their once-hot affair, and confirmed that the Ice Princess had inestimable value because it contained a secret formula hidden in its base. This formula was for a powerful weapon that could give the Cassadine brothers the power to hold the world hostage! At Scorpio's penthouse, Robert revealed to Luke and Laura that he was an agent for the World Security Bureau, and it was imperative to locate the Ice Princess. In a shootout on the docks, Victor Cassadine recognized Scorpio's WSB partner, O'Reilly and gunned her down. In a tearful farewell, Scorpio held his dying friend, vowing revenge on the evil Cassadines! Luke joined super-sleuth Scorpio in his plot to sneak aboard the Cassadine yacht. Laura stowed away too, joining Luke and Robert in this adventure of a lifetime! Victor Cassadine arrived, with his latest passion, Tiffany Hill, a B-movie actress. Waiting in an underground command center located under a tropical island was the mastermind of this scheme -- the brilliant but diabolical Mikkos Cassadine. Mikkos gathered his guests in his spectacular Crystal Room and revealed his fiendish plans to build a massive weather machine, capable of producing a substance called carbonic snow, with which he could freeze the world -- starting with Port Charles! With Tiffany Hill's help, Luke and Robert plotted to break into the underground command center and destroy the weather-making machine. Mikkos put his plan into motion and the temperature began to drop drastically in faraway Port Charles. In a bizarre twist, Mikkos fell into the deadly chamber and was instantaneously frozen to death! With Mikkos thwarted, Luke anxiously tried to release the lever controlling the weather that Mikkos had programmed into the "lock" position. After several unsuccessful attempts to decode the computer, Luke entered the words "Ice Princess" and the weather machine shut down! The courageous efforts of Luke, Laura and Scorpio saved the world from disaster! Bobbie was now romantically involved with a dashingly hip new surgeon, Noah Drake. Still, Noah could not bring himself to make a commitment to her. Frustrated by the fact that Noah couldn't say "I love you," Bobbie faked blindness to gain his affection, but soon split up with him and prepared to leave Port Charles. Susan, pregnant with Alan's child, relocated temporarily to New York where she gave birth to her baby, Jason, in secret. Alan chased her down, and convinced Susan to come back to Port Charles with him. Still, Alan was reluctant to ask Monica for a divorce, fearing she would gain sole custody of his son, Alan, Jr. When Monica found out, she demanded exactly what Alan feared -- total custody of Alan, Jr.! The stage was set for another war between the Quartermaines. Meanwhile, Luke and Laura were the toast of the town! The people of Port Charles expressed their thanks to the heroic couple by showering them with gift after gift -- topped off with the grand prize -- the Cassadine yacht! On a beautiful Indian summer day, Luke and Laura were triumphantly pronounced man and wife! Unbeknownst to anyone, a bejeweled woman stood in the shadows coldly staring at the couple as they spoke their vows. The uninvited guest was none other than Mikkos Cassadine's widow, Helena, who vowed revenge on the newlyweds for killing her husband. At the reception, Luke met Laura on the balcony overlooking the garden where she prepared to toss the bride's bouquet. Scotty stepped up and grabbed it! Baldwin was back with a vengeance!! Just weeks after her wedding, Laura received an exciting offer to become "Miss Star Eyes," the international spokesperson for an exclusive cosmetics line. Although Luke was at first opposed to Laura's new career, he finally relented and wished his new wife the best of success. In New York for her screen test, Laura grew apprehensive, feeling she was being watched. Her suspicions were indeed correct. A stranger, David Grey, was tracing her every move! 1982 Luke and Laura's idyllic life aboard their new yacht, The Haunted Star, came to an early end when the golden couple began to have marital difficulties fueled by Laura's constant trips to New York to fulfill her new job as "Miss Star Eyes." One day, after returning from New York, Laura went to the Port Charles docks. She felt another presence -- was she being followed? Turning quickly, she saw a handsome man with haunting eyes staring at her through the mist. Upon his hand he wore a sapphire ring, and raised it slowly into the mist. Laura shrieked in dreaded fear as she sank to the ground. Luke was worried when Laura disappeared. The disappearance of a second Laura, identified as Laura Templeton, shook the residents of Port Charles. When a third Laura, also blonde, was rushed to General Hospital with severe facial lacerations, folks couldn't help but wonder -- is some nut out to attack women named Laura? Luke, Robert and Tiffany Hill were joined in the search by Laura Templeton's sister, Jackie, a sassy, auburn-haired investigative reporter. Luke, Jackie, Robert and Tiffany drew closer as they renewed their solemn vow to locate their loved ones and bring them home safe and sound. At the Quartermaines, the battle lines in the war between Alan and Monica were drawn even closer when a humiliated Alan, suitcase in hand, returned home --after having been thrown out of his love nest by Susan Moore, the mother of his love child! Monica, the mansion's owner, vowed to put the big house up for sale. Alan's passionate contempt for Monica intensified when she returned from a jaunt to Paris looking stunningly beautiful. To make matters worse, Alan grew incredibly jealous of Monica's handsome new French friend, Phillipe, and Monica fanned the flames of desire by flaunting the studly Frenchman in Alan's face. Alan fought Monica for custody of Alan Jr. All out war ensued between the quarreling Quartermaines. Alan, who had been suffering from impotence, confessed to Monica that he was still excited by her and wanted to work things out. Susan, rejected and furious, sued Alan for millions on behalf of her infant son, Jason -- and thanks to her lawyer, Scotty Baldwin, won a million dollars of Quartermaine cash for Jason but only $100,000 for herself. Scotty and Heather schemed to get their hands on Susan's fortune by encouraging her to drink her way into oblivion. Scotty married Susan. Rick and Lesley Webber poured their energies into the opening of the Waterfront Sports Center, and their newly adopted six-year old son, Mike. Amy fell in love with a handsome boxer, Johnny Morrissey. Sadly, Amy's stormy romance came to an end when, after the death of his manager, Packy, Johnny left Port Charles. In late winter, new turmoil arrived in Rick and Lesley's lives in the form a sixteen year old street urchin by the name of Blackie Parrish. In time, a strong bond formed between Rick, Lesley and the not-so-tough Blackie Parrish. When Blackie's mother died, the Webbers took him into their home. On the rebound from Bobbie, Dr. Noah Drake ignited sparks with sexy Tiffany Hill early in 1982. Bobbie Spencer returned to the hospital. Everyone, except Tiffany, was happy to have Bobbie back! The staff of General Hospital also welcomed back Dr. Mark Dante, who was mourning his late wife, Katie. Mark fell in love with widow Rose Kelly. Luke learned that David Grey, who Luke discovered was a member of an ancient cult, was somehow involved in Laura's disappearance -- and Luke was determined to destroy him! David Grey was not alone in his grand plans to steal the crown jewels of the faraway kingdom of Malkuth. Finally, Luke and David met face-to-face! Holding the sword in his hand, a steely-eyed Luke entered into a deadly battle with David, who crashed through the window and plummeted to his death. Luke sadly came to accept the fact that his beloved Laura was never coming back. Scorpio fell in love with Jackie Templeton. Her sister Laura took a job at the Port Charles Herald and got romantically involved with both Blackie Parrish and Scotty Baldwin. Luke, exhausted and disheartened, headed into the mountains to go camping and met up and shared a night of passion with the beautiful Holly Sutton. When next seen, Holly was luxuriating in an elegant penthouse, reporting to someone on the phone that her initial contact with Spencer was successful. Holly came to Port Charles and wove a tale -- explaining to Luke, Robert and Jackie that she had come to Port Charles to claim some property that her father left to her in his will. It was all part of an elaborate oil scam. Holly and her family were swindlers! As a key player in a well-planned oil scam, they planned to bamboozle the people of Port Charles. Holly eventually confessed her sins to Luke and joined with him to get the goods on her family. She was kidnapped. Luke and Robert journeyed to Vancouver Columbia, where they saved Holly and retrieved the money stolen by her former cohorts in crime. After a terrible fight in which Holly and Luke accused each other of not having enough trust, Luke, on the spur of the moment, stuffed his belongings into a knapsack and announced he was heading into the mountains. Anne Logan chose to leave Port Charles after enduing months of harassment from her surly superior, Dr. Arthur Bradshaw. Along with her adopted son, Jeremy, she left General Hospital to live in peace on her Aunt Lucille's farm. 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989